Page 88 of A Rogue's Rules for Seduction
Three months later
“Do we have everything?” Kieran asked with unusual tension. “If there’s something we’ve forgotten, we’ll have to wait until the boat returns tomorrow, and then go back to Oban and—”
Willa laid her hand over her brother’s. “There’s nothing to fret over. Mr. Longbridge has provided all that we might need to perform the ceremony.”
They stood on the tall grass that sloped down from the cabin on Mr. Longbridge’s island, leading toward the calm, trickling creek. Summer was at its height, and the island had decided to bedeck itself with lush greens and azure skies, as if in repentance for the last time Willa and Dom had been here, and the harrowing storm that had brought them together in this place.
Now they were here again, moments away from formalizing their bond in a simple handfasting ceremony.
Though Willa’s family wanted to parade their daughter’s wedding before the whole of fashionable London, she and Dom had agreed that they wanted no part of that ostentatious display for others’ benefit. This marriage was forthemalone. And if her parents were livid about her decision to flout convention, she didn’t care. Dom was hers and she was his, and only they mattered.
“I’ve brought the flowers,” Celeste said, approaching with a small bouquet of white heather, as per Scottish custom. It was tied with a bow of white satin, which made Willa smile. If white was a symbol of so-called purity, then there was every chance the ribbon would burst into flames the moment Willa touched the fabric. Even in the three agonizingly long months between agreeing to wed and returning to the island, she and Dom hadn’t been able to keep their hands—and all other parts of their bodies—off of each other.
She took the bouquet of heather from Celeste, yet the white ribbon didn’t spontaneously combust. So much for Divine judgment.
“Why are you laughing?” Finn asked with curiosity.
“Better laughter than tears on one’s wedding day,” Tabitha noted. “I’m certain it’s good luck, and if it isn’t, it should be.”
“I can always count on you to provide wisdom,” Willa said with a smile.
“Are you nervous?” Celeste whispered, leaning close.
“It wouldn’t be truthful of me if I was to say that I felt perfectly calm,” Willa answered candidly. She had been in a similar situation once before, awaiting a wedding to Dom, and that had been a disaster. Something like trepidation now shimmered beneath her skin, yet there was eagerness, too, and the certainty that she and Dom were truly meant to be together and would never fail each other.
“Dom won’t disappoint,” Celeste said with conviction as she fussed with Willa’s celadon-green silk gown, and her coronet of fragrant orange blossoms. “He’s been nothing but impatient to finally become yours. He was up before everyone this morning, and I think he set out for the cabin not a quarter hour after dawn. But whereishe?”
Willa looked around. The hills surrounded them like the hands of a giant gently cradling something precious. Sunlight poured down on the cabin and filled the grassy slope with green and gold. On the porch of the cabin stood Baron Hunsdon, and Mr. Longbridge, who would be performing the simple ceremony. Yet there was no sign of Dom.
“There he is,” Kieran said, before adding in a mutter, “saving me the necessity of hunting him down.”
Willa’s thundering heartbeat became a songwhen Dom stepped out of the cabin to take his place on the porch. He was dressed in a fine coat the color of midnight, and a silver waistcoat was snug around his torso, emphasizing his broadness, with buff breeches that clung to his thighs, tucked into gleaming boots. For all his splendor, nothing matched the magnificence of seeing the radiant love in his eyes as his gaze unerringly sought her out.
She and Dom would go through the world together, always beside each other. Always seeing who they were in the depths of their hearts. There would be fire and fury and passion and love, from the moment they met until their last moments on this earth, and beyond that.
“I’m ready,” she said, her attention entirely fixed on him.
She was vaguely aware of activity around her, Finn and Kieran and their wives collecting themselves before they moved as a procession toward the cabin. Neither of her brothers had her on their arms—she walked herself toward her groom—because no one gave her to anyone. She was in command of herself, andshechose Dom.
As she climbed the low steps that led to the porch, sniffling sounded behind her. She glanced back, expecting to see maybe Celeste or perhaps Tabitha overcome with emotion. But no—Kieran wiped at his damp cheeks, and even Finn blinked at the moisture gathering in his eyes.
Willa and Dom stood before Mr. Longbridge, who was resplendent and solemn as he addressed them.
“I’ve been told by the bride and groom that we’re to keep this ceremony brief,” Mr. Longbridge said warmly. “Yet its brevity is only in contrast to the steadfast love between these two people, which has seen its share of tribulations, and in those tribulations, they have come to learn that their love is stronger and more enduring than anything ever created by humanity.”
A tiny sob escaped Kieran, and Willa pressed her lips together when the smallest of smiles curved Dom’s mouth.
Mr. Longbridge continued, “Let this love be solemnized here, at the place where it was at last realized. And I must note,” he added for their ears alone, “it will always be open to you whenever you’ve a sentimental urge to visit.”
Both she and Dom murmured their thanks.
“Now,” Mr. Longbridge went on, “it’s time to place the ring on the bride’s finger.”
From his pocket, Dom pulled out a plain, thin golden band. She knew that it had once belonged to his mother, and his father had given it to him before they had departed for the journey north. The sight of the simple ring, bought with a laborer’s saved wages and symbolizing the tie that endured even after Mrs. Kilburn’s passing, made Willa tremble, and Dom shook, too, as he slipped the ring onto Willa’s finger.
“I understand the bride has a ring for the groom.”
It wasn’t traditional, but Dom had requested it. Finn stepped forward to hand her a wide golden band, and she could barely keep her hand steady as she put the ring onto Dom’s finger. He stared down with a serious expression, a man making a silent vow to himself, before looking back up at Willa with adulation in his gaze.
